AJAM's
Hour One
Mirrors Qatar
on Egypt,
Upbeat from
the
Bay, Asks for
Video

By
Matthew
Russell Lee

UNITED
NATIONS,
August 20 --
Al Jazeera
America
launched today
with an hour
of news from 4
to 5 pm, New
York time. It
was heavy with
news from
Egypt, largely
mirroring the
foreign policy
of Qatar,
AJAM's funder.
But the word
Qatar was not
used.

The
domestic US
stories ranged
from guns in
schools to
wild fires in
Idaho, with a
correspondent
already on the
scene. The
profile of US
firefighters
was upbeat,
consonant with
the
testimonial of
the
channel's
American
employees in
the one hour
promotional
video that
ran before the
news.

To
Inner City
Press, which
previously
covered Joe
Kennedy's
Bronx
television
commercials
for CITGO,
there was
something of
an echo: the
US seen from a
perspective
from, or
funded by,
outside. An
outsider
perspective
can be fresh.

Monday's
first
hour was
cautious,
largely siding
with Bay Area
officials on
the safety of
their new
bridge in
Melissa Chan's
piece, for
example. Will
AJAM uncover
municipal
corruption?
Will it cover
the New York
City electoral
races, like
CNN with Bill
De Blasio and
MSNBC with
Bill Thompson
tonight?

Anchor Tony Harris
bantered about
J.C. Penney
with Aly Velshi,
who'll do his
own show from
West 33rd
Street. John
Terrett who in
full
disclosure was
on a UN
Security
Council trip
in Khartoum
with Inner
City Press,
and stood up
strongly to
the handlers,
covered Kodak
with word
play. There
was a sports
segment on
A-Rod,
featuring Gary
Sheffield
prominently
featuring his
own book.
There was that
constant, like
death and
taxes:
weather.

On
Al Jazeera and
the UN, this
sad news
cannot go
unreported: Al
Jazeera
cameraman
Glenn Gabel,
also a fan of
motorcycles,
tragically
died on Friday
on his bike,
just days
before this
launch. Among
the UN
press corps
and in many
other places,
not least by
his partner
Kristen, and
their two
young sons,
Sawyer and Jax,
Glenn will be
sorely missed.
Rest in
Peace.